


Miles to Go

by Callisto_HK



Series: The Children Are Our Future [1]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Abby, Kid Fic, Kid Kate, Kid Tim, Kid Tony, Past Child Abuse, Tony DiNozzo & Jethro Gibbs Father-Son Relationship, Tony-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-08-30 19:26:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8546122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callisto_HK/pseuds/Callisto_HK
Summary: Gibbs and Shannon love their kids; adopted or not! They both agree that Tony and Abby are the best things that have happened to them. Still, they're both young and inexperienced and they tend to make mistakes, even though they really wish they wouldn't, especially with the insecure little Tony, who's already been hurt too much.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, here is another AU that wouldn't leave me alone! I mean I've read some very good Kid!Tony stories by great fic-writers and I couldn't resist the idea. So here's my own version.
> 
> The stories of this series are not exactly related to one another. When one story-line ends and a new one starts, it won't have anything to do with the events of the last one; there won't be a reference to it or anything; you could even pretend the last one has never happened if you like! They're totally separated. The only common thing between all of them is the fact that Gibbs and Shannon have adopted Tony and Abby and Kate and Tim might come to their house for some of the stories.
> 
> It all will become clear once you read the first part of the first chapter and that's why you need to read at least the first story to get familiar with the idea.
> 
> Also, there's no order in the way I post the stories of the series; that is to say in one story Tony could be 8 and in the next one 7. It merely depends on how they come to my mind, but in any case, the information about their ages and all other needed explanations would be given during the story; pretty sure you won't feel lost.
> 
> Again, all you need to know about how the kids have come to stay with Gibbs, who Gibbs and Shannon are and the information about everyone's past are given in the first chapter of the first story -this one-, and these are the things that'd remain the same for every story of this collection.
> 
> Also, in this universe, Kelly has never been born. No more explanation is needed, I guess; If you read the first chapter, everything will be clear.
> 
> Hope you like it.

They had Tony the longest; it was now the third year that Tony was living with them and the 8 year old boy - _or as Tony liked to say; almost 9_ \- was doing much better than when he'd first come to their house. He now laughed easily and seemed full of life and of course he was a little mischievous, like any other boy his age would be.

Sadly, he was still being haunted by the nightmares of the years he'd spent with his real father; the guy who'd been either absent or if he'd been present, he'd be drunk and punishing his small son for one reason or another.

Tony didn't remember much of his real Mom; she'd died when he'd been just three; had killed herself to be exact. What Tony _remembered_ about her was her lifeless, glazed over eyes, gazing at the ceiling, and the blood that had covered her clothes, her wrists and hands and the very colorful Persian carpet on which she was lying. Tony also clearly remembered the horror he'd felt when he'd seen that scene; the crippling fear, that to this day, he still felt in his bones. He'd been the one who'd found his mother's body and had been so shocked and scared that he'd stood there for very long minutes until one of the staff had finally come to that room and her screams had brought everyone else running to the scene to see what had happened.

That had been precisely the beginning of Tony's extended nightmare; his father who prior to that day always ignored his existence and never even answered his calls and questions, was now completely aware of having a son; a son who could be the punching bag for his rage and he'd made sure to take advantage of that opportunity whenever he was nearby. The words that had been said to the boy during those years and the damage that had been done to him, mentally and physically would never completely disappear, but, at least, after two and a half years of living with the Gibbs, he was now able to hide his immense pain, his fears and even smile and laugh like the little boy he was.

The Gibbs had first seen him when he'd tried to escape his father's house when he'd been 6; they'd almost run him over with their car, but fortunately Gibbs' reflexes, and of course the brakes of their car, were good enough to prevent a tragedy from happening. They hadn't hit Tony with their car, but the boy had collapsed nevertheless and once they got him to the hospital, they realized that the internal bleeding from the beating that he'd suffered at his father's hands and probably the pain had been the cause of his collapse.

The CPS had been called next and after months of trying to prove themselves, Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Shannon Gibbs were the proud parents of little Tony, who at the time was so traumatized that he barely spoke, barely ate and never even smiled. But well, they were good parents and did everything in their power to fix those problems the best way they could.

They'd been unable to have any kids of their own; they'd tried for years and had finally given up and if either of them believed in coincidences or luck they'd have called it their luck that they had decided to get a certificate of being eligible for adopting children right before they'd run into Tony. Their prior efforts made it much easier for them to prevent Tony from getting lost in the system and they were thrilled about it and about the fact that they'd found an amazing boy like little Tony, who despite being traumatized, was very polite and well-behaved, really kind to everyone -young and old- and truly sharp and clever.

After Tony, they soon adopted another child; a little girl, named Abby, this time. She was full of life and energy from the beginning; she'd lost both her parents in an accident and although she missed them, she didn't remember much to mourn; she was only four, two years younger than Tony and had spent a while in a foster home, because people didn't want to adopt a girl who collected bugs and loved to play with spiders.

Abby didn't take to Tony straightaway; she didn't like that Tony wouldn't talk to her and wouldn't play with her and thought he was one of those boys who thought girls had cooties and she hated those boys. But after a while, she realized that it wasn't just her that Tony didn't talk to or play with; Tony was very quiet in general and liked to just either read his books or watch TV and even that happened when he was alone; for some reasons, Tony always shied away from everyone and that made Abby think of him as a little bunny who was stuck in a hole and so was scared of everything and since she loved helping bunnies, she made it her special mission to make Tony realize he didn't need to be scared.

Jethro and Shannon were very pleased with how Abby brought Tony out of his shell and they helped any way they could; making it clear to Tony that things were different in his new house; that he was loved and wouldn't be punished for just being alive; or for anything else, in case Tony wondered.

Those two were their real kids now and they'd decided that they wouldn't adopt any more kids; but it didn't stop them from taking care of other kids if it was needed; for example, there was Katie, who was 9 the first time she came to stay with them; she was the daughter of one of Shannon's friends and since she'd been really sick, Shannon had volunteered to take care of her daughter so she could concentrate on getting better; Katie was bitter because of that and what she enjoyed the most was bickering with Tony and teaming up with Abby against Tony who was the only boy there. Tony didn't mind it; he was sharp and always came up with his own ways of teasing Kate; so they were good; and if every now and then they did things that'd hurt each other, they'd move on quickly. Sometimes, Kate would say things that reminded Tony of his time with his father, but he always hid it, because he didn't want to be mocked by the two girls who were always around him and besides, he loved Abby and he liked that Kate was there to play with them, even if they, sometimes, excluded him from their games or would team up against him.

Then came Tim; he wasn't an orphan either and he wasn't taken from his abusive family; he did have a family and they weren't abusive at all; in fact his mother always showed him that he was loved and his father, although very strict and scarce with positive words; never hurt his child, not even with his words; he just had a very high expectation of his son, but he'd never let anyone hurt his son. But because of his job, they had to move around a lot and lately they'd realized that all the moving was leaving negative effects on their child and after some talks, they'd been convinced to let the boy stay with a family for a few weeks and if that worked out, he'd stay with them for the school year and go home to his parents, wherever they were, for the holidays and the whole summer.  
The Gibbs were the family that Timmy was sent to; Gibbs' military background had been approved by Tim's father and the Gibbs had thought the addition of a little boy to their family could balance the situation since it seemed like that Abby and Kate had taken control of everything in the house.

What they hadn't expected was Tim getting so close to Abby so quickly; they were both almost 7 now and shared many interests when it came to books and video games.

What Gibbs and Shannon didn't _notice_ even after Tim came to live with them for the school year was that now all the three children were teaming up against Tony most of the time and that they all excluded him from their games; Tony had tried to keep up, refusing to let his playful mind go to that dark place where his father and his blood-covered mother were hiding and waiting for him. But little by little, the boy started to see more glimpses of those scary shadows and to keep them away, he started to get more creative; more mischievous and more desperate to make the other kids play with him or the parents notice him. And it became a cycle; the more he tried, the more snappish the other kids became and even Abby didn't play with him much; she preferred spending her time with Kate and Timmy now and she seemed to never have time to play with Tony with his action figures. Tony was willing to play video games with them, even though he didn't like those games all that much; but they wouldn't let him; a couple of times, they'd even told him that he wouldn't get how to play those games because he wasn't as smart as the rest of them and he'd just make them lose.

That had hurt Tony, which led to him trying to play tricks on them, which was a step towards them getting more upset with him and complaining to the grownups about it; Shannon was more patient with them, but Gibbs was losing it; he'd snap at Tony to play nice or not to tease the others or just leave them alone and Tony would stop for like 5 minute, looking chastised, but then he'd start again, which was grating on Gibbs nerves.

So you see, a vicious cycle, really! There was no way to get out of it and what happened because of it was a disaster waiting to happen.

When it happened, it was an evening when Shannon was at the hospital working a night shift, so the kids were alone with Gibbs. The man was making dinner for them and at the same time was trying to figure out what they were missing in their case that they couldn't solve it. He had recently become a Junior Agent at NIS and was actually enjoying his new job and the mystery that came with it; but Mike Franks, his boss, could be really irritating at times and it wasn't always easy to make a breakthrough in their cases. So, that night, his mind was occupied; he was tired from work and the kids wouldn't stop running around.

"For the last time; do _not_ run in the house." He hollered from the Kitchen.

Just as he was trying to concentrate on the notes he'd taken during the case, a girlish scream came from the staircase and then a loud thud followed it. With his heart in his throat, he ran out of the kitchen to find Abby lying on the ground with Tony kneeling beside her, looking at her worriedly, murmuring words of apologies.

"What the hell is going on here?" He knew that Shannon would have his head if she heard him using that language, but she wasn't there and well, _he_ was.

"It's Tony's fault." Kate spat angrily.

"What? No." Tony looked frightened, but Gibbs was seeing red; his baby girl was lying on the floor, crying her eyes out, with blood on her arm and a forming bruise on her forehead. Seeing that, something in Gibbs snapped; he rushed to her side and in the process of reaching her, he grabbed Tony's arm and with much more force than needed on a kid, he pulled him away from Abby and shoved him aside. His mind didn't even register the gasp that left Tony's mouth; all his focus was on Abby.

"Shhh, it's alright, baby. Let me see your arm." He soothed.

"It hurts." Abby wailed.

"I know. I know. I'm sorry, but let me see. OK?"

"Dad?" Tony's tentative voice irritated him even more.

"I told you _not_ to run in the house." Gibbs turned his head and snapped at the little boy. "You've been getting more and more irritating and I don't know what the hell to do with you anymore. I'm this close-..." Taking a deep breath, he used a calmer, yet colder voice to say, "Get the hell out of my sight."

"Da-"

"Don't." He cut the boy's word off. "Don't say a word. I don't wanna hear you. I don't wanna see you. Get to your room and stay there. I'll deal with you later."

The angry, reddened face; the harsh words and threats and the behavior Tony saw in the man, in that moment, were the exact things that he'd wished and thought he'd never see again; but here he was; he'd screwed up again and now he was going to be punished. His father had been right; it was all his fault; he should've never been born. Gibbs was the nicest man he'd known and now even _he_ couldn't stand him and was going to _deal_ with him. Deal with him! Those were the words that his father always used when it came to him.

With trembling chin and fearful eyes, Tony dropped his head to his chest, muttered a quiet ' _sorry_ ' and walked up the stairs to his room to wait for his punishment there. He'd always known that his life here was too good to be true, but he'd let himself feel comfortable; he'd let his guard down; he'd become a bad boy and now he was going to pay for it; maybe Gibbs would send him away; or maybe he'd keep him and punish him for being there like his father used to do. And once again, Tony felt he deserved to be punished; because he was a screw-up who always ruined everything. He didn't mean to, but it happened nevertheless; he'd just wanted to play with Abby and the other kids, but... No; he couldn't blame anyone but himself; it was all his fault; he should've just stayed in his room; quiet and out of sight; that was what he was supposed to do; his father had always told him that he was nothing but a disappointment and that he shouldn't be seen or heard and he'd forgotten those rules here and now Abby was hurt because of it.

Downstairs, Kate and Tim who didn't know anything about Tony's past, felt satisfied that he was going to be punished; maybe this way he'd leave them alone. Abby was too distracted to realize what had happened and Gibbs was too worried about his baby girl to notice what kind of damage he'd caused.

Picking the small girl up in his arms, he walked to the bathroom to clean her scratched arm and to check her for any other injury; after half an hour of close examination, he finally sighed with relief. The girl was fine; no broken bones and no serious injury; the bump to her head wasn't anything serious either and the girl had calmed down and was now giggling at something Kate had said.

"OK, let's go eat dinner." He said when his nose registered the smell coming from the Kitchen. "We don't wanna waste the food that I've spent so much time on, do we?"

The kids giggled and followed him to the kitchen; none of them caring that Tony wasn't there with them and Gibbs was still too mad or maybe shaken to remember they weren't all at the dinner table; there were so many things going on in his head that he simply didn't see what was happening in front of him or who was there and who was not.

Once the dinner was eaten, the kids were sent to get ready for bed. An hour later, they were all tucked in their beds and Gibbs felt quite happy with himself, feeling like a good, capable father. With a content sigh, he grabbed a mug of coffee and went to the living room to once again go through his notes and see if he could find a way to crack the case. Unaware that that night, Tony didn't go to bed; he didn't do anything; he just sat in the corner of his room, shaking quietly with fear as he waited to be dealt with. The little boy finally fell asleep in the corner of his room around two in the morning.

 

**.**

**.**

**TBC ...**

**.**


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Shannon called her husband to tell him that there had been an accident and they were swamped, so she couldn't come home that soon. Gibbs had to call his boss and ask if he could stay home with the kids or if he needed to find someone to come and watch them and was glad when Franks told him he could take the day and that he and Wilson, the SFA, could take care of the case on their own.

That being taken care of, he stood up and started to prepare the breakfast for the kids; they'd be up any minute now and since it was Saturday, they'd want to do something fun at home. He'd completely forgotten the events of the previous night and once the kids showed up in the kitchen, and his eldest wasn't among them, he frowned; it wasn't like Tony to oversleep; maybe he was sick?

Putting the plates in front of the kids, he absently wondered whether he should go up and wake the boy or maybe he should let him sleep since he didn't have school that day.

"Daddy?" Abby's tentative voice took his attention and it was then that he noticed the bruised forehead and the images of last night's incident rushed through his head.

"Yes, baby? Are you alright?" He asked worriedly.

"Yes, but... It's just-" She paused, eyeing the empty seat that her brother usually occupied and said, "Last night wasn't Tony's fault. Could you please not punish him and let him have breakfast?"

"What?" Gibbs was confused. ' _Let him? Why would Abby say that? He'd never keep his kids from having their meals.'  
_

"Well, you didn't let him have dinner last night, so he must be really hungry now and you were really mad at him and told him you didn't wanna see him and Daddy, it wasn't his fault I fell; he didn't do anything wrong."

"Yes, he did." Kate jumped in; she was tired of Tony's behavior and didn't mind a little bit of silence.

"He pushed you." Tim helped when he heard Kate's words.

"No." Abby screamed. "He didn't push me. He wasn't even _near_ me. You fell on me and so I fell down the stair." She was now really angry at her playmates; how could they lie like that? Turning her gaze to her dad's confused one, she said, "Daddy, we were all playing together; Tony had grabbed my book and wouldn't give it to me, which I don't mind, but Timmy and Kate were screaming at him to give it back and Tony just held it up and he's taller than us, so Tim was jumping up to catch it but he missed one of the steps and fell back and bumped into me and then I fell down. I swear I'm telling the truth; Tony didn't do anything. Please don't hit him." She was close to tears now.

"Abs," Gibbs gasped. "I'd never hit Tony." And damn he was _just_ remembering that Tony hadn't been at dinner with them last night and he hadn't paid much attention to it at the time! ' _What is wrong with me? How could I call myself a father?'_ He thought painfully.

Abby's next words pained him even more. "But you did last night." She sounded uncertain. The images from last night's events weren't clear in her head and how Gibbs had pushed her brother out of the way seemed like hitting him to her.

Gibbs' frown deepened as he tried to remember his words and actions from the previous night and what he remembered sent a cold chill down his spine; he'd hit the boy; well, not really that, but he had handled the boy roughly and for a boy who'd been abused most of his short life, being pushed out of the way like that couldn't have been any better than actually being hit.

And his words... Jesus! Had he actually said those words to Tony? He'd spent months to bring the boy out of his shell and help him trust them; he knew the little boy still had nightmares about the early years of his life and that he still had flashbacks from those days, but they used to happen more frequently and now he'd gone and ruined all their hard work to lessen those nightmares and flashbacks; months and years of hard work was probably now ruined because of his thoughtless words and actions. Had he destroyed everything? Seriously! What the hell was wrong with him?

"Is that true?" He looked at Kate and Tim to hear their side of the story; not that he doubted Abby; he just wanted to see if the other kids would tell the truth or not; because it seemed like unlike Abby, they had no problem putting the blame solely on Tony.

Kate and Tim shared a look; they didn't know what to say. "But it _was_ his fault." Kate finally said, whining a little.

"No, it was not." Abby screamed again. "Why are you lying? You aren't even real part of our family. You two are just staying here until you can get back to your own families; why are you trying to ruin Tony's only family?" She knew about Tony's past; not everything, but she'd heard some stuff from Tony and despite her young age and Tony's secrecy, she knew a few things that were really scary and she knew she didn't even know most of it, and to her that meant it must've been really terrible for Tony and she didn't want Tony to feel that way again, because she could remember the days that she'd just arrived to her new house and the way Tony wouldn't talk or play and she didn't want Tony to get like that again.

Kate and Tim were both pouting now and Gibbs watched the interaction between the kids and Abby's words and reaction made him shudder; she was right and she was just a kid; how could he treat his own son that way? Suddenly it was clear why Tony wasn't at the table with them and God; the boy hadn't even had dinner. Gibbs felt sick and he couldn't help hating himself.

Standing up from where he'd crouched in front of Abby, he said, "Eat your breakfast and go play; quietly." He added. "As for you two-" He eyed the other kids in the room; "We'll have a talk later and I'll let you know what your punishment is. We don't tolerate lying in this house."

Tim looked down quickly, but Kate opened her mouth to protest, Gibbs' glare made her close it immediately and look away, though.

Satisfied with the status quo, Gibbs left the kitchen and with some dread walked up to his son's room.

The moment he opened the door and saw the empty bed, his world tilted; had Tony run away? Had he lost his boy because he'd been unable to control his temper? Had he-

It was then, in the middle of all those awful thoughts that he heard a whimper and turned his head to find Tony's curled-up form in the corner of the room. What was Tony doing there? Why hadn't he slept in his bed? Why-

 _'Why do_ you _think?'_ A scornful voice asked him in his head and it sounded scarily like Shannon's voice! He knew perfectly well that Shannon would be pissed off at him once she heard what he'd done; but he couldn't care about it right then; at that moment, he only cared about Tony and how he'd hurt his little boy.

Cautiously, he knelt beside his son, and gently shook his shoulder. "Tony? Son, can you wake up for me?" He asked quietly, careful not to startle the boy as it was clear that he was having a nightmare again; but apparently to Tony it didn't matter; because one moment the boy was lying on the floor, curled up in that corner and fast asleep, and the next moment, his eyes were wide open and he was sitting upright, pushing his back against the wall, like he thought he'd disappear if he tried hard enough.

"Hey, hey, calm down. It's just me." He tried to smile and sound soothing; like all the other times that he'd dealt with his son after a nightmare; except, this time, _he_ was probably the nightmare and he slightly cringed at that thought.

Tony's eyes were filled with tears, but he clearly was fighting them, not letting them drop. The small boy quickly dropped his gaze to his lap and Gibbs knew it was because of the lessons that had been drilled into him by that good-for-nothing monster that called himself Tony's real father, back at Tony's first home.

"I'm sorry, Sir." The boy murmured quietly; "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

Too perplexed to say anything, Gibbs remained quiet and tried to find the right word.

Tony who'd mistook Gibbs' shock and silence for anger, quickly stood up and took his shirt off and turned his bare back to his dad. "I'm ready, Sir." And he sounded steady and firm and it made Gibbs' stomach churn; because no child should be that OK with being hit; no human-being should be really that OK with it and yet, here, his boy with his already marred skin was letting him beat and belt him and he actually sounded like he was ready for a lesson in fishing, not for being whipped.

The skin on his back still held the telltale signs of his father's abuse; thankfully, they were few pale lines and not very obvious, but it was still heartbreaking to see them, because they told the story of years of abuse; however, what hit Gibbs the hardest and finally made him lose the content of his stomach wasn't any of those old signs; what did it was the angry bruise on his arm. Running towards the bathroom; Gibbs barely made it to the sink before he started to throw up heavily. _He_ 'd left that bruise on his son's small, fragile arm; he'd been the one who'd hurt his son this time; he was no better than his biological father; those thoughts kept running through his head and with each wave, he puked more and more. He, of course, hadn't done it intentionally; at the time, he hadn't even realized that the hold he'd had on Tony's arm had been hard enough to leave a bruise; but that didn't matter; what mattered was that his son's arm was bruised now because he'd hold him too tightly.

He wasn't sure how long it took for him to stop puking; but it felt like hours.

Washing the sink and his mouth and face; he wished he could go back in time and stop his idiot self from doing that to Tony. Eyeing his face in the mirror, he felt sick again; he couldn't stand to look at himself and he couldn't stand the fact that he'd hurt his son with this hand; so before he knew what he was doing, he'd raised his fist and punched the mirror.

The pain that ran through his arm and up his shoulder was strangely satisfying and welcome; the sound of the breaking glass had caught the attention of the kids, though and soon they were all there; all but one; the one that Gibbs needed to see the most at that moment and he was sure the boy hadn't left his room only because Gibbs had ordered him to stay there until he was told otherwise.

"Gibbs?" Kate asked, sounding shocked and Gibbs noticed that Tim was hiding behind the wall, looking scared as Abby stood there, crying quietly.

"Hey; it's alright. Go to your rooms. Everything is OK." He sounded hoarse, but gentle.

"But-"

"Please." The request sounded more like an order, but it did the trick and the kids disappeared in Abby's room and closed the door.

Quietly, he grabbed the first aid kit, bandaged his hand to not scare Tony and walked back to Tony's room; the boy was still standing there with his back towards the door and God, if there was anything left in his stomach, Gibbs was sure he'd lose it again.

"Tony." He sighed quietly.

The boy stiffened, but didn't turn around. "Yes, Sir?"

He couldn't take it anymore; kneeling on the ground, Gibbs turned the boy around and pulled him into a fierce hug. "God, I'm sorry. Tony, I'm really really sorry. I know you probably hate me now and you should. You really should hate me. I hate myself; but I'm sorry; you gotta know that."

Tony was too shocked to say anything. He couldn't understand what was happening; was it part of the punishment? Was it this way in this house? Make him feel comfortable and suddenly strike? He felt that it was worse; he wished Gibbs would just hit him like his father and get it over with. He didn't care if Gibbs broke his bones or if he used his belt; he could take it; he had with his father; what he couldn't take was this uncertainty and it scared him more.

"Please, son. Please don't think I'm like your... Like that guy who just helped to bring you to this world. I'm not him. I love you and I didn't mean to hurt you." Gibbs was still talking.

When Tony remained silent; Gibbs pulled away a little and studied the boy in his arms. "Tony?"

Tony looked up with tears in his eyes and so much fear and uncertainty that Gibbs couldn't help but squeeze him into his chest. "I'm sorry."

"It's OK." The boy finally murmured; realizing that it was what Gibbs was expecting to hear.

"No, it's not." Gibbs shook his head. "Nothing about this is OK and it's all my fault; but I promise you, Tony; this will never happen again. NEVER." He stared the boy in the eyes and hoped the boy could read the sincerity in his eyes.

"It's OK. But-" Tony repeated. "Why are you apologizing?"

That simple question broke Gibbs' resolve and after years of not crying, tears left his eyes. God, what had he done? Tony was so far gone that he couldn't even understand he should hate this man for hurting him; he was thrown back to his early years so suddenly that he'd clearly believed he deserved the punishment and so he couldn't get why he was being apologized to.

"I shouldn't have hurt you, son. Never and in no way and I'm so sorry I did." Gibbs replied, knowing that he needed to make Tony see he hadn't done anything wrong and even if he had, being handled roughly; being sent to his room without food or punished like that wasn't OK and that Gibbs was the one who had done wrong, not him! "You've done nothing wrong; I shouldn't have just assumed and gotten mad at you and I shouldn't have hurt you. I'm sorry. But, Tony; even _if_ it was your fault that Abby fell down the stairs, which I know wasn't your fault because Abby told me the whole story and I should've asked you about it first, instead of jumping into a conclusion; still, even if it'd been your fault, I should've handled it better; I promised you the day you came to us that you'd be safe here; that no one would _ever_ touch you the wrong way or hurt you and here I am, the one who said those words and I still went and hurt you. So, I'm sorry, son and while it doesn't make what I did OK, I'll do everything in my power to make it better."

Tony's innocent face was so open and a tear had escaped the corner of his left eye. He couldn't believe his ears; this was new to him; last night he'd believed that things would become just like they'd been in his father's home and now... Now, Gibbs was apologizing to him; hugging him and saying all these things that didn't make sense; but all those things made him feel wanted and loved. And Gibbs had thrown up and his hand was hurt and he wasn't sure, but it seemed like Gibbs had hurt himself because he'd been angry with himself for hurting Tony and nobody had ever done that for him. So yes, he was lost and totally confused, but he nodded and rested his forehead against Gibbs' chest, feeling safe again for the first time since Abby got hurt.

Maybe things were actually different here; maybe he hadn't screwed up completely. "I'm sorry I screwed up. I didn't mean to." He said quietly into his dad's chest.

"No. No, son, you didn't screw up; I promise you. I'm the one who screwed up and I'll let Mommy punish me for it."

Tony's head snapped up; his green eyes filled with terror; "She'll hit you?"

"Oh, no. No; nobody hits anybody in this house." Gibbs said firmly; "And I know you can't believe me now after what I did last night, but I promise you it won't happen again. Well, I'll probably be grounded; she might take away my privileges; I don't know. We gotta let her decide and I'm sure she'll ask for your opinion. You should help her; I deserve to be punished."

"No." Tony shook his head vigorously.

Gibbs felt his son starting to panic, so he quickly changed his ways. "OK, you don't have to do anything you don't want to. Just calm down, please."

Forcefully, Tony calmed down his breathing. "Thanks, Dad." He said quietly.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Gibbs once again squeezed the boy to his chest. "No, Tony, thank _you_. I couldn't have asked for a better son."

He felt like Tony was falling asleep in his arms and he momentarily thought about letting him; but then he remembered that the boy hadn't had his dinner last night; a stupid mistake on his part that he vowed to never make again; so it wasn't right that the boy skipped breakfast, too. Shaking him slightly, he said, "Hey, what do you say we go and have some breakfast? I'm sorry I didn't come get you for dinner last night. I... I kinda didn't notice because I got scared last night and..." He shook his head. "That's no excuse. I'm sorry I didn't come get you and that I didn't check on you to make sure you've gone to bed. Those are two other things that won't happen again." He felt that even if he apologized till the day he died; he wouldn't be able to make up for his harsh words and actions of the other night. "Hope you've had enough snacks in the evening, at least..." He added quietly.

Tony was hungry, but not too much. "I did." He replied just as quietly and with his father's help, he stood up to go have some breakfast.

"After that, maybe you can go play with Abby? She was worried about you and I'm sure she'd love to have you around. Kate and Tim are gonna be grounded for a while." He squeezed his son's shoulder and ushered him down the stairs. Tony was still quiet and Gibbs knew it'd take more than one talk to bring the smile and life back to his face and once again, he silently cursed himself for it; but he was determined to prove it to his precious boy that he meant it when he said he was sorry and that he wouldn't hurt him again. Not deliberately. He wasn't one to apologize really, but with the way he'd screwed up, he'd apologize to Tony forever if he had to. He just hoped that Tony could find it in himself to become so playful and energetic again and soon; he was already missing Tony's smile, laughter and voice when his mouth worked a mile a minute as he talked about his day. He just hoped he hadn't ruined things beyond repair.

**.**

**.**

**The End...**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: That's it for this one. The next chapter will have a new storyline.  
> Let me know what you think?
> 
> .
> 
> I don't own the show and its characters and all mistakes are mine.

**Author's Note:**

> I know this is just a Kid-fic and completely AU, but some of the ideas I use are triggered by the actual events of the show; I sure have exaggerated here because this is a fiction and an AU for that; but some of the behaviors we saw on the show were actually kinda childish or they were problems that weren't dealt with properly, so, they seemed kinda appropriate for these stories.


End file.
